Page 9 of Maple Sugar Mix-Up
He insisted on footing the bill and headed up to the counter. I didn’t argue and soon we found ourselves out on the sidewalk in the gently falling snow. A sign on the window reminded me that Valentine's Day was upon us. I glanced at over Jace and was suddenly taken with how handsome he was. The gentle illumination from a nearby streetlight and the snowflakes caught in his hair made him irresistibly kissable.
No, I would not go down that road.
“Thanks,” I said instead of doing something I’d regret. “I had a nice time.”
“Me too,” he replied with a grin.
“I should probably head home before the weather gets any worse.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.”
If only he wasn’t so damn sweet. “Thanks, but I actually walked. It’s not far.”
“Would you like…” Jace hesitated for a moment. “A lift?”
No. No. No, I want to walk away and keep doing the single dad thing and not get my heart broken by another alpha.
A big snowflake hit me right on the back of the neck and I shivered. “Sure, that’d be great.”
His car was just across the street, so we quickly made our way across. I wasn’t surprised when he held the door for me. He settled in, turned the key and… nothing.
“Oh shit.” Jace tried a few more times, but the engine wouldn’t turn over. His eyes flicked in my direction and he turned quickly away, looking ashamed. “Sorry… I uh… sorry.”
“It happens,” I said. “It’s no big deal.”
“I’ll call a tow truck or something…” he muttered. “It’ll probably be a while though, I won’t keep you.”
Something in his voice sounded sad. Plus, I couldn’t possibly just leave him out in the cold – everything on Mill Street closed early – and waiting for a tow.
“You can walk me home,” I suggested, as ifhe’dbe the one doingmea favor. Other than financially, I didn’t mind an alpha taking on the lead role. Sure, this was just supposed to be the one date. No, itwouldbe one date. One night… But that didn’t mean it had to be a short date…
Jace considered it. “I’d be happy to. My car isn’t going anywhere.”
We started off down the sidewalk. It was a quick walk, but there were a couple of icy patches. Jace took my hand to help me across one and I wasn’t at all disappointed when he didn’t let go.
Hand in hand, we reached Nana’s Cottage and went I inside. I shook the snow off my jacket and hung it up, while Jace stood awkwardly in the doorway.
“I guess I’ll uh…”
“Come on in,” I said.
He did and hung up his coat too, looking around.
“This is cute,” he said.
“Thanks,” I laughed. “It was my grandmother’s.”
“Oh yeah?”
I nodded and looked around fondly… before it occurred to me it was mostly furnished the same way. “Yeah… It’s not exactly updated.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Jace said with a grin. “But it did sort of remind me of my grandmother’s house. Actually, she didn’t live too far from here.”
“Small world.”
“My grandmother actually is the one who taught me to make the—” He paused as my phone rang.
I pulled it out of my pocket to check the caller. Beth. “Hold a second, it’s the nanny.” At Jace’s nod, I answered. “Hey. Is everything okay?”
